A leaked opposition file on Donald Trump has emerged, but the real file is probably much larger

Several hundred pages of a Democratic National Committee
file of opposition research on Donald Trump is now public.
But it's hardly the complete research brief that
the organization is working on to thwart the presumptive GOP
nominee from becoming president.

On Wednesday, Gawker
published a leaked version of one of the DNC's early
opposition files on Trump. It was written in December.

The 200-page playbook outlined attacks on Trump — including over
his business record and inflammatory statements about female
celebrities — but included what some observers noted was
highly publicized information about the real-estate magnate that
was easily
searchable online.

Several sources familiar with the DNC's opposition
research on Trump told Business Insider that the December
files appear far more incomplete than the
organization's current database of potential attacks.

One source familiar with the DNC's current opposition file
on the real-estate mogul told Business Insider that the
December document was presented by just a handful of staffers
assigned to looking into Trump's most obvious controversial
statements from his past.

As it became increasingly apparent that Trump would become
the nominee, the committee diverted dozens of
staffers toward compiling and farming out opposition
research dedicated to the former reality-television star.

The organization's current research on Trump includes hours
of video footage and tens of thousands of pages of potential
lines of attack against the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, according to one source familiar with the organization.

Several Democrats with ties to the DNC noted that it's
not surprising that the DNC's research in December would be much
less complete than the more complete file, once the general
election began in earnest.

Former DNC spokeswoman Holly Shulman, who left the
committee late last year, said in an email
that she was not familiar with the document published
by Gawker. But she pointed out that any campaign's
research will become a lot more comprehensive as the election
nears.

Shulman said of the DNC's file published in Gawker:

This looks like a simple summary document. Plus, it's six months
old, and since then, the DNC's research team became almost 100%
focused on building out its Trump book (when I say almost, there
is still a VP candidate to watch out for), as it was able to
divert staff resources from Jeb, Rubio, Cruz and 12 others as
they dropped out of the GOP race.

She added: "Research 'books' aren't one PDF or one file, they are
living documents."

The DNC's current research operation is also likely
to get another boost.

A source close to the committee said that, in recent days,
Hillary Clinton's campaign has been in contact with the
organization about sharing and coordinating opposition
research.

On Thursday, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook took
greater control of the DNC's daily operations, installing
a new general-election chief of staff at the DNC to help
the organization work directly with the Clinton campaign,
according to CNN.

The Clinton campaign declined to comment. The DNC didn't respond
to repeated requests for comment.